Login.gov on its second life but it might not need many more

There is an ironic rule of thumb in journalism for measuring the significance of government news. It is not news when a program fails. That is just what government programs do.

The U.S. government’s Login.gov secure single sign-in service has a blemished development history, but it might succeed despite itself.

The service uses phone number and address and checks third-party data and state driver’s license databases for identity verification.

Sonny Hashmi, commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service, showed up at a customer-engagement conference with some unexpected news. Despite a damning appraisal of Login.gov this spring, the government’s sign-in service boasts rising adoption.

According to public-private trade publication MeriTalk, Hashmi told attendees that the service’s “adoption curve continues to increase.” Agencies using Login.gov include the Internal Revenue Service, USAJobs, the Trusted Travel Program and the Small Business Administration.

He says there is no other one-account, one-password identity verification service in the United States that works and is open to any level of government – from villages to the Department of Defense.

That is a success right there, but some General Services Administration employees earlier this year, inaccurately said that Login.gov met the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s ID assurance level 2 standard, which would require the use of a selfie to match face biometrics.

Article Topics

access management  |  identity verification  |  Login.gov  |  single sign-on  |  U.S. Government